The writing of the novel as a creative thesis in American literature was a special project approved by the English department of Eastern Kentucky University. Beyond the university's departmental requirements in the course of study for a a Master of English in American literature, I did an independent study of creative writing texts recommended by the creative writing department at Easter Kentucky University. I attended three summer workshops at the Hindman Settlement School Writer's Workshop, Hindman, Kentucky, with classes under professors/authors Robert Morgan, Gurney Norman, Lee Smith and other noted others. My undergraduate study of the English novel and my graduate study of the American novel gave me a strong base for construction a novel. Two Kentucky authors, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to the English department and deemed the novel as appropriate for a creative thesis in American literature. The graduate committee of Dr. Paula Kopacz, chair, Dr. Harry Brown, published Kentucky poet and Dr. Sherry Robinson, published novelist. The result of the study allowed me to experience a combination of creative writing and analytical writing. I was able to bring together a unique academic project of applying critical theory not only to the works of various noted American authors but also to my own work.
","abstract_html":"<p>The writing of the novel as a creative thesis in American literature was a special project approved by the English department of Eastern Kentucky University. Beyond the university's departmental requirements in the course of study for a a Master of English in American literature, I did an independent study of creative writing texts recommended by the creative writing department at Easter Kentucky University. I attended three summer workshops at the Hindman Settlement School Writer's Workshop, Hindman, Kentucky, with classes under professors/authors Robert Morgan, Gurney Norman, Lee Smith and other noted others. My undergraduate study of the English novel and my graduate study of the American novel gave me a strong base for construction a novel. Two Kentucky authors, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to the English department and deemed the novel as appropriate for a creative thesis in American literature. The graduate committee of Dr. Paula Kopacz, chair, Dr. Harry Brown, published Kentucky poet and Dr. Sherry Robinson, published novelist. The result of the study allowed me to experience a combination of creative writing and analytical writing. I was able to bring together a unique academic project of applying critical theory not only to the works of various noted American authors but also to my own work.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pennington, Carolyn Ruth"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:13Z","subjects":["American Literature","Creative Writing"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2012 Carolyn Ruth Pennington"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/72","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pennington, Carolyn Ruth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American Literature","Creative Writing"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2012 Carolyn Ruth Pennington"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/72"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The writing of the novel as a creative thesis in American literature was a special project approved by the English department of Eastern Kentucky University. Beyond the university's departmental requirements in the course of study for a a Master of English in American literature, I did an independent study of creative writing texts recommended by the creative writing department at Easter Kentucky University. I attended three summer workshops at the Hindman Settlement School Writer's Workshop, Hindman, Kentucky, with classes under professors/authors Robert Morgan, Gurney Norman, Lee Smith and other noted others. My undergraduate study of the English novel and my graduate study of the American novel gave me a strong base for construction a novel. Two Kentucky authors, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to the English department and deemed the novel as appropriate for a creative thesis in American literature. The graduate committee of Dr. Paula Kopacz, chair, Dr. Harry Brown, published Kentucky poet and Dr. Sherry Robinson, published novelist. The result of the study allowed me to experience a combination of creative writing and analytical writing. I was able to bring together a unique academic project of applying critical theory not only to the works of various noted American authors but also to my own work.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Black Gum Well"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Pennington, Carolyn Ruth"],"dc:description.abstract":["The writing of the novel as a creative thesis in American literature was a special project approved by the English department of Eastern Kentucky University. Beyond the university's departmental requirements in the course of study for a a Master of English in American literature, I did an independent study of creative writing texts recommended by the creative writing department at Easter Kentucky University. I attended three summer workshops at the Hindman Settlement School Writer's Workshop, Hindman, Kentucky, with classes under professors/authors Robert Morgan, Gurney Norman, Lee Smith and other noted others. My undergraduate study of the English novel and my graduate study of the American novel gave me a strong base for construction a novel. Two Kentucky authors, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to the English department and deemed the novel as appropriate for a creative thesis in American literature. The graduate committee of Dr. Paula Kopacz, chair, Dr. Harry Brown, published Kentucky poet and Dr. Sherry Robinson, published novelist. The result of the study allowed me to experience a combination of creative writing and analytical writing. I was able to bring together a unique academic project of applying critical theory not only to the works of various noted American authors but also to my own work.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/72"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2012 Carolyn Ruth Pennington"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["American Literature","Creative Writing"],"dc:title":["The Black Gum Well"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:13Z"}